During your time as a graduate student at the Center for Writing Studies, you’ll have access to a variety of employment opportunities designed to support your academic growth and professional development. Teaching assistantship positions above 25% are tuition waiver-generating.
Below, you’ll find brief introductions to several graduate and teaching assistantship positions available through the Center. These roles offer valuable experience in writing instruction, research, and program support.
If you’re interested in applying for any of these positions—or learning more about any of the listed opportunities—please don’t hesitate to reach out to the designated contacts provided in each section. We’re here to help you find the right fit!
Center for Writing Studies
As a Center for Writing Studies Assistant Director, you aid the director of the center in programmatic duties. This position is an excellent introduction to campus writing program administration.
Assistant Director duties are predominantly performed online, both synchronously and asynchronously, although some duties, such as coordination of events, may call for in-person work and participation. This position is typically a 33% percent appointment each semester, but the appointment percentage can be negotiated depending on individual circumstances. These duties may include:
- Design and lead Writing Across the Curriculum workshops, including the WAC TA Seminar and specialized events.
- Organize and promote CWS events such as lectures and colloquia.
- Support instruction and facilitate meetings for INFO/WRIT 303: Writing Across Media.
- Maintain CWS’s online presence (website, social media, listservs).
- Coordinate CWS-sponsored reading and working groups.
- Promote CWS to internal stakeholders and prospective students.
- Provide curricular consulting to instructors and programs.
- Assist with office maintenance and other duties as assigned by the CWS Director
Writing Across Media (WAM) is an upper-division multimodal composition course offered through Writing Studies and Informatics (INFO/WRIT 303). It fulfills the university’s Advanced Composition requirement and invites students to explore writing as a multimodal practice—engaging with digital, visual, spatial, and physical forms of communication.
WAM encourages creative and critical engagement with media, and instructors have approached the course through a variety of frameworks, including design thinking, semiotics, digital rhetorics, and cultural analysis. This flexibility allows graduate instructors to tailor the course to their interests and expertise while meeting core learning outcomes.
Teaching WAM provides valuable professional experience in course design, assignment development, classroom instruction, and assessment strategies. Graduate instructors gain hands-on practice in shaping a dynamic, student-centered learning environment that reflects contemporary writing practices.
Selected applicants are typically prioritized to teach WAM for up to three semesters during their graduate career. Continued appointment beyond that period depends on instructor interest, course availability, and departmental needs.
Employment for WAM depends on instructor need; therefore, the call for applications may or may not go out every semester. If you have any questions or would be interested in teaching WAM, please contact the center at: centerforwritingstudies@illinois.edu
Writers Workshop
The Writers Workshop at the University of Illinois offers graduate students the opportunity to serve as writing consultants, supporting writers from across campus—including undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff—from any discipline and at any stage of the writing process.
As a writing consultant, your primary role is to help writers build effective writing knowledge, skills, and confidence through one-to-one tutoring sessions. In addition to tutoring, consultants contribute to the Workshop’s broader mission by developing and facilitating in-class presentations, leading special-topic workshops, creating instructional materials (such as handouts and guides), and representing the Workshop at campus events like resource fairs.
This position offers valuable experience in writing pedagogy and student support—skills that are transferable to academic, teaching, and professional contexts.
The Writers Workshop hires graduate consultants through graduate teaching assistantships, available at 17%, 25%, and 33% appointments, corresponding to approximately 7, 10, and 13 hours per week.
Calls for applications are issued each semester, depending on staffing needs. While consultants often retain their positions across semesters, continued employment is at the discretion of the unit and based on past performance, availability of funds, and individual circumstances.
For more information about the Writers Workshop and current opportunities, please visit the workshop's website or contact us at wow@illinois.edu
The Assistant Director supports consultant development, coordinates writing-related programming, collaborates with campus partners, and contributes to writing center research and resource creation. This role offers an opportunity to gain leadership experience in writing pedagogy, writing program administration, and cross-campus engagement. A number of our former assistant directors have gone on to become writing center directors.
However, please be aware that this is an internal hire position. You are only eligible to apply for assistant director once you first become a consultant, with preference given to applicants with at least one year of tutoring experience with the Writers Workshop. For more information about the Writers Workshop and current opportunities, please visit writersworkshop.illinois.edu or contact us at wow@illinois.edu.